Eisenhower Dance Company

Saturday, September 28, 2013 - 7:30pm to 9:00pm

Freed Center: Biggs Theatre

Dramatic. Striking. Awe-Inspiring. Eisenhower Dances’s newest mixed repertory program Red, Hot and Blue is a stunning collection of repertory by nationally-recognized choreographers that have set new works on the versatile Eisenhower dancers. The program includes works by the renowned choreographers Ron de Jesus, Stephanie Pizzo and artistic director Laurie Eisenhower, among others. Consequently, this program expresses a diverse range of artistic viewpoints from virtuosic movement pieces to innovative comedy and soulful introspection. Age-appropriate programming and repertory selections can be designed for particular audiences.

Eisenhower Dance Ensemble, Michigan's premier contemporary dance company, begins its twenty-second professional season this year. Artistic Director Laurie Eisenhower founded the company in the summer of 1991 in metropolitan Detroit. Since its inception, the Eisenhower Dance Ensemble has been dedicated to the performance of a diverse range of contemporary dance works. Along with Ms. Eisenhower's highly acclaimed choreography, EDE showcases the works of young talented artists as well as choreographers with established reputations. The company has boasted works by internationally known choreographers such as David Parsons, Lar Lubovitch, Stephen Koester, Michael Foley, Kiesha Lalama-White, Mark Dendy, Joel Hall, Eddy Ocampo, Lila York, Colin Connor, and Billy Siegenfeld, among others. With support from the Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs, the company has also collaborated with Michigan Opera Theatre, the Warren Symphony, the Immigrant Suns, the Rackham Symphony Choir in Carmina Burana, and the Motor City Lyric Opera and the Toledo Opera in Amahl and the Night Visitors.

Eisenhower Dance Ensemble has produced several touring productions. These include Motown in Motion, a visual salute to the tunes that made Motown records famous, Laugh Tracks, an evening of comedy in dance, Igor Stravinsky's A Soldier's Talewith Detroit Chamber Winds & Strings as part of the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, Dances from the Heart of Rock and Roll, a heartfelt tribute set to folk and rock music, as well as EDE's newest touring productions: NewDANCEfest, Drop. Dead. Dance., and Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring.

Considered by many critics to be one of the finest contemporary dance companies in the nation, Eisenhower Dance Ensemble has received overwhelming critical acclaim along with enthusiastic audience support: "stunning" (Gloria Shay,Holland Sentinel), "intelligently crafted repertoire" (Susan Isaacs-Nisbett, Dance Magazine), "dance that touches the soul" (Susan Hall-Balduf, Detroit Free Press), "an eye-popping production" (David Lyman, Detroit Free Press), "a hearty no-nonsense way of moving" (Jack Anderson, The New York Times)m and "particularly impressive" (St. Louis Today). The company's performance schedule has taken it to theaters throughout the state of Michigan, on tours across the United States, and as far as St. Petersburg, Russia. The company has received numerous grants and awards for its work including the prestigious Touring Award from the NEFA to present NewDANCEfest during the 2012-13 season. In 2003, Ms. Eisenhower received the prestigious Artserve Michigan Governor's Award for Arts and Culture - Michigan Artist and, in 2012, was named a Kresge Performing Arts Fellow for her work in bringing great dance to Detroit.

For its twenty-second year, EDE is looking forward to a full season of events, which will keep the company creating and sharing the art of dance!